Naruto: Shifting Winds
by GrandSageMiju
Summary: I decided to write a new story since my old one was going nowhere, But this story, set in the first series, focuses on a new team and their exploits in the land of ninja, but be aware, i plan on changed established canon, so, if that isn't something you like, don't read, but if you don't care, enjoy! Contains OCXHinata, OCxNaruto, and other pairings to be decided later. Rated T
1. Chapter 1

Naruto: Shifting Winds

(I'm planning on replacing my old Naruto story with this one, but if you guys would rather I continue work on my old one, I'll continue it, and this one takes place in the first series rather than in Shippuden and still has OCXHinata but also includes OCXNaruto, anyway, enjoy)

One day, in the peaceful village of Konoha, a young man walked towards the Academy, fixing his ponytail, he found his way to the entrance of the Academy, but before he entered, he heard something.

"Hey, stutters, where do you think you're going?" A voice shouted, the kid looked to where the voice came from and saw three older kids standing around a young brown haired man, who readjusted his glasses and nervously looked at the others.

"I, uh, w-was just going to c-class" He stuttered, a member of the group grabbed him by the collar and picked him up.

"What point is there for a coward like you learning how to fight?" He taunted, shaking the young man, before throwing him to the ground, the bullied kid quickly dried his eyes and picked up his belongings, hurrying into the school.

"Man!, that was fun!" The leader laughed "What kind of ninja can't even stand up for himself?!" as they walked on, something flew forward and collided with the leader's head, knocking him off of his feet, he picked it up and saw it was a rock "Hey!, who the hell threw that?!"

"A ninja that _can_ stand up for himself" The ponytailed young man replied.

"Damn it, Yuudai!" The leader yelled "I thought we told you before not to mess with us!"

"And I ignored you" Yuudai responded, picking up another rock and lobbing it at the leader "Since you still decide to pick on kids" The leader got up and charged towards Yuudai, but he was easily countered "You make it too easy!"

"Boss!" his two underlings yelled, getting up the nerve to charge Yuudai as well, but they too were easily taken down.

"Hmm...what to do with you now?" Yuudai thought, he looked around and saw a tree, he kept looking and saw abandoned carpenters tools, these included several lengths of rope, a mischevious smile crossed Yuudai's face as he approached the tools...

"Really!?" The teacher yelled at Yuudai, who was now in class "You beat up three students and hung them from a tree by their ankles!?"

"Yeah, I did" Yuudai replied calmly "Those jerks deserved it, though."

"You can't just go around beating up people because the upset you!" The teacher yelled "Now head back to your seat, we'll discuss your punishment later..."

"Punishment?!" Yuudai yelled "Iruka-sensei, that's totally unfair!" Yuudai pointed out the window towards the tree where three ninja were getting the bullies down "Those guys were picking on Yowa!"

"That doesn't justify beating them within an inch of their lives and then hanging them from a tree!" Iruka yelled back, Yuudai gritted his teeth and let out an annoyed sigh.

"I don't need this..." He said, turning and walking out of class, he stormed past a group of students and left the building, he looked up and jumped to the roof of the building, sitting on the railing and looking at the sky, soon, he heard someone approach him.

"I thought I heard someone come up here.." The voice said, Yuudai turned around and was greeted by the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Yeah, I just need air..." Yuudai replied, turning back to the scenery in front of him, watching more students enter the school.

"Was that your doing?" Hiruzen asked, pointing towards the tree, Yuudai didn't look, but he understood what he meant.

"What if it was?" Yuudai questioned "You gonna yell at me like Iruka-sensei?" Hiruzen approached the railing and stood next to Yuudai.

"I won't, I assume that Iruka has already given you plenty of lecturing" Hiruzen said, putting a hand on Yuudai's shoulder "I used to be like you, you know."

"What do you mean?" Yuudai asked, turning to face Hiruzen.

"I couldn't stand for any injustice, no matter how slight" Hiruzen replied "Oh, and by the way, you may want to get to class, the graduation exam is today."

"Why should I care?" Yuudai questioned "What good would being on a team do me?"

"You are a bit rough around the edges" Hiruzen answered "Being on a team may be a good way to smooth you out, so to speak."

"Tch, I don't need to be smoothed out..." Yuudai responded, turning away.

"Maybe, Maybe not" Hiruzen continued, walking away from Yuudai "You decide what is best for you" Hiruzen returned to his office, leaving Yuudai on the roof.

"..._What if Old Man Third is right?, Do I need to be smoothed out?_" Yuudai thought, he looked down at the last group of students to enter the school "_Alright...guess I'll go see what the deal is..._" he leaped from the roof and returned to his class.

"There you are" Iruka said, noticing Yuudai enter the room "Take a seat, please."

"Iruka-sensei..." Yuudai began, he let out a sigh and then bowed in front of Iruka "I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier."

"Don't worry about it" Iruka replied, smiling "Actually, You can make it up to me by doing me a favor."

"A favor?" Yuudai repeated "What do you need?" Iruka pointed towards an empty seat.

"Yowa hasn't been to class today" He said "Some students said they saw him in school, but they don't know where he is now."

"Yowa's gone missing?" Yuudai asked, he turned back to the door and ran out "I'll find him, don't worry" He ran through the halls of the school and finally found the exit "_I have a feeling I know where he is..._" Yuudai ran through the village, dodging people going about their daily lives, finally he found a small stream "_I remember back when we were kids..._" Yuudai looked at the gently moving water and recalled a distant memory.

Yuudai splashed around in the water, grateful for some fun after a boring day, but something soon stopped him, he thought he heard someone on the bank, crying, he looked down the way and noticed a young boy, whose face was buried in his hands "Heeey!" Yuudai called to the boy, but he didn't reply, he sloshed through the water and climbed onto the bank "What's the problem?"

"N-nothing" The boy answered "I-I'm fine!" Yuudai flopped onto the bank next to the boy and watched the setting sun.

"You don't seem fine" He said "You seem like a crybaby."

"M-Maybe I am!" The young boy replied, tears still flowing into his hands, Yuudai let out an irritated sigh.

"Would you stop?" He asked "Do you think crying like that is going to achieve anything?, what even happened?"

"I-It's just, something someone said to me..." The boy answered "H-He said 'you'll never be anything, you're just some screw-up'!"

"You're proving him right" Yuudai replied, closing his eyes, listening to the kid cry "...What's your name, anyway?"

"Y-Yowa...Yowa Tachibana" The kid answered, trying to calm himself down.

"Well, Yowa, I'm Yuudai, Yuudai Akiyama" Yuudai introduced, he then stood and held out his hand to Yowa "You shouldn't be sitting here crying, you should get up and prove that jerk wrong!" 

"B-But he's right!" Yowa replied "I can't do anything right, I'm bad at Ninjutsu, I'm too weak to do Taijutsu, and Genjutsu is too hard!"

"Would you stop complaining?!" Yuudai yelled, causing Yowa to jump "You can't just let one jerk tell you that you can't do anything!" He grabbed Yowa by the collar and pulled him to his feet "How the heck can you call yourself a ninja?!"

Back in the present, Yuudai scanned the banks and finally found Yowa, sitting on the same bank, he approached him and sat next to him "Graduation exams are today, you know..."

"I-I know..." Yowa stuttered, not meeting Yuudai's gaze "But, th-those guys today just confirmed it, I'm a loser who can't do a-anything right, I can't even stand up for myself..."

"Nooo, you're just an idiot who can't see his self-worth" Yuudai said "And _I'm _the friend who's trying to help you see it."

"H-How can you have so m-much faith in me, Yuudai?" Yowa asked, drying his eyes "I can't even handle one simple technique."

"Then you keep trying until you can" Yuudai replied, putting his hand on Yowa's shoulder "And if you can't, try something else."

"You say that like it's so easy..." Yowa said "I can't just f-fail at one thing and expect to be a g-genius at something else."

"Well, why not?" Yuudai answered "Everyone is good at something, right?" Yuudai saw that Yowa was starting to tear up again "Oh, no, no more water-works, come on, let's get back to class, I'll drag you there if I have to, ya crybaby!"

"You w-were always so plainspoken, Yuudai" Yowa said "You were never afraid to say what you felt...I-I wish I could be like you."

"Oh, believe me, there are some things not even _I _have the guts to say" Yuudai replied "Anyway, come on, we have to get to class, everyone's probably waiting, and they'd be pissed if they had to postpone the exams because of us!" he stood up and ran back to the academy "And _I'm _going to be pissed if I turn around and you're still crying!" Yowa finally stood and followed Yuudai back to the academy, once they were back, they both took their seats just as Iruka had began to hand out the tests...

Yuudai walked home, marvelling at the forehead protector Iruka had given him "_So...just gotta survive the test tomorrow and I'll be a Genin..._" he tied the protector to his forearm and headed home, when he finally made it, he opened the door and a young girl flung herself into his arms.

"Yuu-kun!, you're home!" She said, hugging him.

"Good to see you too, Akiko" Yuudai replied, patting the girl on the head "Anything happen when I was gone?"

"Yeah, big sis took me and Ayaka out shopping today!" Akiko answered, leading Yuudai into the house.

"That's nice, why don't you go play with Ayaka?" Yuudai said, gently taking his hand from her grasp "I've got to go talk to mother."

"Oh, Okay!" Akiko replied, walking away, Yuudai walked down the hall and entered his mother's room

"Mother?, Are you awake?" He asked, he heard someone shifting in the bed, and his mother looked at him, a calm smile on her face.

"Hello, Yuudai" She said, sitting up in the bed "How did your exam go today?"

Yuudai showed her the forehead protector he had wrapped on his arm "I passed!, tomorrow I have to meet my sensei and she'll decide if I'm actually ready."

"Your father would be so proud..." She replied, before she could say anything else, she lapsed into a coughing fit.

"Mother, are you okay?" Yuudai asked, concerned for his mother.

"Don't worry, Yuudai, I'll be fine" She answered "You just get ready for tomorrow, you have a big day ahead of you."

"Right..." Yuudai responded, leaving the room and running into his older sister Azumi.

"So, you finally made Genin, huh?" She asked, throwing her arm around her little brother.

"Yeah..." Yuudai replied "It's great..."

"What's wrong?" Azumi asked "You don't sound too happy, I thought you would be so excited." 

"Well...I didn't... *mumble mumble *" Yuudai responded, looking away from his sister.

"What was that?" She asked "You didn't what?"

"I-I didn't *mumble mumble * team" Yuudai said, feeling his face burn.

"Are you blushing?" Azumi questioned "Come on, just say it already!"

"*Sigh *...I didn't get..._her_ on my team" Yuudai admitted, looking back at Azumi, seeing how his face turned bright red, a big smile crossed her face "What?"

"Awww!, My little brother is in love!" She yelled, giving Yuudai a hug "That's so cute!"

"Too...tight..." Yuudai gasped "Azumi...can't...breathe!"

"Sorry, sorry" Azumi apologized, letting go of Yuudai "Oh, I just remembered!, Father told me to give you something special for when you graduated" She ducked into the room across the hall, which Yuudai knew was basically just a storage closet, she then came back out and held a small box out to Yuudai "He had these made for you, saying you would make good use of them" Yuudai took the box and opened it, revealing the two swords within.

"Swords?" He questioned "I'm not that good at Kenjutsu, but if Father had them made for me..." he pulled the blades out and drew them, one was a decorated ninjato, and the other was an ornate tanto with a straight blade, both had kanji written near the hilts "Hope?...Strength?..."

"Why don't you go practice?" Azumi suggested "I'll come get you when dinner is ready" Yuudai nodded and left for the training ground, where he practiced with the blades, leaving the trees around scarred, after what felt like hours, Azumi appeared in the training ground, telling him to come home...

THE END

Chapter 2: Evaluation

The next morning, Yuudai left his house early, hoping to be the first of his team to meet his Sensei, but on his way to the meeting place, he ran into someone, literally.

"Hey!, Watch where you're going!" The person yelled, Yuudai immediately recognized the voice and let out an irritated sigh.

"Of all the people I could run into, it had to be you, Baka-ruto" he said, glaring at the blond kid in front of him.

"It's not like I wanted to see you either, Baka-yama!" Naruto yelled back, grabbing Yuudai's collar.

"Come on, If you're going to insult me, at least use my _first_ name!" Yuudai replied, pulling himself from Naruto's grasp and trying to walk past him "I don't have time, I gotta meet my Sensei, not that you would know anything about that, Dead-last."

"Well, just so you know, I _did_ pass the exam!" Naruto answered, showing off his headband to Yuudai.

"Wow, they let anyone be a ninja, don't they?" Yuudai joked "You probably just _squeezed_ by, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled "I didn't need that test to tell me I'm gonna be a great ninja!" he grabbed Yuudai by the collar again and pulled him in close "If you think you're so much better, why don't you prove it?!" he shoved Yuudai back and drew a kunai.

"Fine then, just don't cry when I win, I hate crybabies!" Yuudai replied, drawing his blades, they both charged towards each other, blades ready to strike.

"Alright, that's enough" A voice said, suddenly, two Jonin had appeared between Yuudai and Naruto, and quickly disarmed the two boys "You two are allies, you shouldn't be fighting like this." 

"He's the one who started it!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Yuudai, who simply scoffed and walked away "Hey!, Where are you going?!, We aren't finished!"

"Eh, I'd rather not get a lecture today..." Yuudai said, waving back at Naruto without turning around "We'll finish it later, alright?"

"What!?" Naruto yelled "You can't just put a rain-check on a duel!" he tried to go after Yuudai, but he was held back.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" One of the Jonin said, letting go of Naruto's hand, Naruto muttered some curses under his breath and walked off.

"Sigh...I feel bad for the people who have to supervise those two..." The other said "At least they aren't on the same team."

Meanwhile, Yuudai continued walking through the village, while he walked he ran into Yowa, who seemed to be getting ready to leave as well.

"Oh, Hello, Yuudai" Yowa greeted "Are you going to meet our Sensei?"

"Yeah" Yuudai simply answered, walking past Yowa, who followed him "It shouldn't be that much farther to the meeting place..." the two walked on and eventually found themselves near the edge of the village, in what seemed to be another training ground.

"Finally!, I thought I would have to wait here forever!" they heard a voice say, they followed the voice up a tree and saw a young girl sitting on one of the branches "You guys are my teammates, right?"

"If we weren't why the hell would we be here?" Yuudai asked, leaning against a seperate tree "Where's our Sensei?"

"I don't know, she should be here eventually" The girl replied "By the way, my name is Ume, what are yours?"

"I'm Y-Yowa, Nice to meet you" Yowa said, Ume jumped down from the tree and shook Yowa's hand.

"What about you?" She asked, looking at Yuudai, who had drawn his tanto and was throwing it into the air.

"I'm Yuudai" He replied simply, pushing himself off the tree and shaking hands with Ume, while they talked, someone else entered the clearing.

"You three must be my team" The person said, the three turned and saw a young woman with long black hair, she was wearing an open white jacket with a red undershirt that showed off her midriff, along with dark blue pants adorned with different pouches for different weapons, one of the most notable features was that she had bandages around her head and one covering her left eye "Nice to meet you, I'm Tsukiko" She looked at the three "Ume, Yuudai and Yowa, right?"

"Yeah" Yuudai replied "So, what's our assignment?" Tsukiko pulled something from her pocket, Yuudai noticed that it was a stopwatch.

"You'll have...we'll say six hours" She said, setting the watch and looking at the three, who stared at her in confusion.

"Six hours for what?" Ume asked, Tsukiko then smiled and let out a light laugh.

"To take me by surprise" She replied "Ninjas need to rely on the element of surprise to get the advantage over their opponents."

"Take you by surprise?" Yuudai repeated "Easy enough" Tsukiko laughed again and looked at Yuudai.

"You talk big, Yuu-kun" She said, smiling "Just like your father" She then vanished from the clearing and the three huddled together.

"She probably went back to the village" Ume said "We should split up and look for her."

"Alright!" Yuudai and Yowa agreed, the three headed towards the village and split to search different districts.

*With Yowa *

Yowa decided to try and camouflage himself by holding a wooden facade in front of himself and hiding.

"A-Alright, once Tsukiko-Sensei passes by, I'll jump out" He thought "Hopefully she comes by soon, I don't want to wait here forever..."

It felt like hours had passed, and Yowa had not seen any sign of his sensei, people had passed by, shooting glances towards his facade "_Is my camouflage not good enough?_"

"Do you know why that kid is there?" a random man asked the owner of a nearby stall.

"I think he's playing some sort of game" The owner reply "He's probably waiting for someone, just ignore him, he's not bothering anyone."

"Come on..." Yowa whispered "I w-was so sure she would be here by now"

"Yowa-kun, you can't expect to know your enemy's every move" Yowa heard behind him, he quickly turned around and saw Tsukiko behind him,sitting on top of the fence, she smiled mischeviously and pulled a length of rope from her pocket "And you made your trap too obvious, sorry about this."

*With Yuudai *

Yuudai jumped up to the rooftops and scanned the ground below him "_Sensei has to be here somewhere..._" he looked below him and saw Tsukiko enter a restaurant "_Gotcha!_" he jumped down from the roof and stood by the doorway "_I'll just wait for her to come out, and then I'll get her..._" he waited for almost an hour until he heard someone come out "I gotcha, Sensei!" as he dove at the person, a bowl of ramen was sent flying in the air and it landed on Yuudai's head.

"What was that for!?" The person yelled, Yuudai looked out from under the bowl and saw that it wasn't Tsukiko he ran into, it was one of the delivery girls for the restaurant.

"Oh, Uh, Sorry, I thought you were someone else!" Yuudai apologized, bowing "I'll be right back!" He ducked into the building, but he didn't see Tsukiko anywhere, before he could make another move, he felt someone grab his ponytail, he turned his head as best he could and saw that it was the woman he knocked over "I-I'm sorry, I'll help you clean!"

"Get out of here!" She yelled, stomping outside and spinning Yuudai by his ponytail and throwing him into the distance.

Tsukiko poked her head out from the restaurant "Did I hear Yuu-kun a second ago?" she looked around and only saw the delivery girl, who stomped back into the restaurant "...Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing, though I am surprised he hasn't tried anything yet..."

*With Ume *

Ume ran down the road, trying to find any sign of Tsukiko, when she finally saw her, she ducked into an alleyway.

"_If she sees me, it's over_" She thought, watchking Tsukiko stop at a shop stall "_I could probably sneak up on her, but what's the best way to do that?_" She kept thinking of different ways to sneak up on Tsukiko, but while she thought, Tsukiko had left "_What?!, Where did she go?!_" Ume left the alley and ran down the street, but she couldn't find any signs of Tsukiko "_Oh no!, I lost her!_"

"Don't lose your head, Ume-chan" Tsukiko said, causing Ume to jump, she turned around but Tsukiko was gone "You've still got an hour and a half."

"_What?!, It went by that fast?!_" Ume thought, putting her hands on the sides of her head "_Hopefully Yuudai and Yowa have a better plan!_" She decided to return to the training ground, but when she rounded the corner, she saw Yuudai walking down the path with his head hung "Y-Yuudai?, what happened?"

"*Sigh *...I don't want to talk about it..." Yuudai replied, pulling a noodle out of his ponytail "I don't even like this stuff..."

"*Sniff Sniff *, What did you do?" Ume asked "Why do you smell like ramen?" before Yuudai could answer, Yowa stumbled towards them, trying to get the rest of the rope off of him "Yowa?, Are you alright?"

"I-I was caught..." Yowa admitted "Tsukiko-Sensei is too good...how are we going to beat her?"

Yuudai sighed and slipped off his jacket "Great...it's gonna take weeks to get that smell out..." While they thought of different strategies, Tsukiko watched from a distance.

"_Those three don't give up_" She thought, looking down at her watch "_Well, let's just see how this will play out._"

"Guys...I think I have a plan..." Yuudai said, noticing Tsukiko watching them, he approached her and slowly drew his tanto "Tsukiko-Sensei..." he then did something that surprised everyone, he plunged the blade into the ground and bowed down "You've got us beat, we couldn't do it..."

"Haha!" Tsukiko laughed, bowing down and putting her hand on Yuudai's shoulder "Now, there's something I never thought I'd see!, Alright, you three pass."

"What?" Ume questioned "But we didn't take you by surprise, what do you mean we pass?"

"You took me by surprise" Tsukiko answered "I never would have thought that Yuu-kun would be someone to give up."

"So...W-We're Genin?" Yowa stuttered, a smile crossing his face.

"Awesome!" Yuudai yelled, thrusting his fist into the air "When do we get our first mission!?"

"Heheh, I'll see about getting one for you in the morning" Tsukiko replied "Well, if there isn't anything else, you three are free for the day."

"I can't believe this, we passed!" Ume cheered "I can't wait to get our first mission!"

"Well, hopefully we'll get something other than those stupid D-Rank missions" Yuudai said "My sister said they're the dumbest ones."

"But, we have to start somewhere, right?" Yowa replied "I-It's not like we can just start with C-rank missions, right?"

"Eh, Whatever" Yuudai responded "I should probably get home, I need to get my jacket cleaned...I'll see you guys tomorrow" Yuudai left the group and headed home, when he reached his house, he saw Ayaka and Akiko playing outside.

"Yuu-kun!, Did you pass your test?" Akiko asked, running up to him "Are you a Genin?"

"You bet I did!" Yuudai replied "It was pretty hard, though, but I made it!"

"Way to go, big brother!" Ayaka said "Did you get a mission yet?"

"Not yet, but I'll get one tomorrow" Yuudai answered "Why don't you two go back to playing?, I need to talk to Azumi."

"Alright!" Both of the girls said, going back to their game, Yuudai left them and walked into his house.

"Azumi?, You in here?" Yuudai called, setting his jacket on the table and grabbing a washcloth for his hair.

"Coming!" His sister replied, soon, she entered the kitchen "What do you need?"

"Wellll...how do I explain it?" Yuudai began, chuckling "I need you to wash my jacket, there was a...misunderstanding at a restaurant during my test..."

"*Sniff Sniff * Why do I smell ramen?" Azumi asked, resulting in a nervous laugh from Yuudai "What did you do?"

"You see, I was trying to catch my Sensei off guard and..." Yuudai explained, running the cloth under the sink "I kinda tackled a woman and she spilled her ramen all over me...

"Way to go" Azumi laughed, grabbing Yuudai's jacket "Did you at least pass the test?"

"Yeah!" Yuudai replied, thrusting his fist into the air "And my Sensei said she'll get us a mission by tomorrow!"

"Well, since you made Genin" Azumi said, walking away "Look's like I'll have to teach you our clan's technique."

"Huh?, Our clan's technique?" Yuudai repeated, following Azumi "Do you mean...?"

"Yep, 'Autumn Flame Release'" Azumi answered "Our clan has handed down this technique for generations, I'll clean your jacket and we'll head to the training ground, alright?"

"Okay!" Yuudai agreed, he left to get cleaned up, with daydreams of running missions running through his mind...

*Meanwhile *

Hiruzen sat in his office, reading through files, soon, there was a knock on his door "Come in" the door slowly opened and Tsukiko walked in.

"Pardon me, Lord Third" She said, smiling at Hiruzen "But I have come to deliver my evaluation."

"Ah, of your team" Hiruzen replied "Tell me, what have you observed?" Tsukiko thought back on the day before replying.

"Well, I can say without a doubt, all three are very rough around the edges" She answered "Yowa-kun has a great mind for strategies, but he doesn't have confidence in his abilities, which leave openings in his techniques, Ume-chan tries to plan things carefully, but she is impulsive and tends to quickly lose her head."

"I see..." Hiruzen said, leaning on his desk "And what of Yuudai?" Tsukiko let out a sigh before replying.

"Well...How do I put it?" She thought "He's...A lot like Masaru..."

"Ha!, I know exactly what you mean" Hiruzen replied "His father was a trouble maker when he was Yuudai's age, but much like Masaru, I think Yuudai will be a great ninja."

"I'd have to agree, Lord Third" Tsukiko said "And, to finish up my report, I believe that even though they have their shortcomings, all three of them will be great ninja, and they will be starting their first mission in the morning."

"Well, then I will have to find the perfect mission for them" Hiruzen said, he sifted through his papers and pulled one from the stack "Here, this will be perfect, but Yuudai will probably complain about it."

"Oh, there's no doubt about that" Tsukiko replied "But he'll do it anyway, despite all his complaining" She bowed and left his office, leaving Hiruzen to his work...

*Back with Yuudai *

Yuudai began to feel drained, Azumi had put him through rigorous training, but he finally felt that he was grasping the technique, he focused his chakra again and blew out the wisps of blue flame once more.

"There you go!" Azumi said "Now, these flames are stronger than basic Fire Release techniques, and with enough training, you may be able to develop your own attacks."

"Sweet!" Yuudai cheered, letting out heavy puffs of breath "But...I think...i need to practice a bit more."

"Not tonight" Azumi said "It's getting pretty late, you'll need to get all the rest you can for that mission tomorrow" Yuudai didn't argue and followed her home, when they returned, Yuudai immediately went to his room and flopped onto his bed, falling asleep almost right away...

THE END!

A.N: So, this is my second Naruto story, and yes, I plan on tweaking some established canon, but I hope you enjoy this story anyway!


	2. Chapter 3 and 4

Naruto: Shifting Winds- Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3: First Assignment

Yuudai slowly woke up, he groggily stood and dressed himself then walked out of his room and headed towards the kitchen, he grabbed a rice ball from the counter and walked out, heading towards the meeting place, he eventually made it and found he was the last to show up.

"Glad you could make it, Yuu-kun" Tsukiko said "Now that you're here, we can finally start the mission."

"What kind of mission did we get?" Ume asked, excited for the first assignment "It isn't anything dangerous, is it?"

"We aren't going to be fighting anyone, are we?" Yowa wondered "We won't get hurt, right?"

"Don't worry about that" Tsukiko replied, laughing slightly "We'll start out simple, we've been tasked with helping a restaurant attract costumers."

"...That's it?" Yuudai asked, taking a bite from the rice ball "Just make people go to the restaurant?"

"Sorry, Yuu-kun, that's it" Tsukiko responded "This will be a nice start, though" the team then left the meeting place and headed towards the restaurant, when they got there, the owner was waiting for them.

"Thank you for agreeing to help" He said, bowing "Business has been kind of slow, and I was hoping that maybe a display would attract people."

"A display, huh?" Yuudai thought "It shouldn't be that hard" he created a ball of fire in his hand and began juggling it "Like this, right?" he continued to grandstand with the ball of flame as a small group of people started to gather "See?, It's not that hard!" but when he tried to add more flame to the show, he ended up dropping the balls and they nearly landed on the crowd, as the people scattered, Yuudai quickly extinguished the flames "Heheh...sorry..."

"Well, let's not try and light people on fire, alright?" The owner said "Do you have any other ideas?"

"I think I have one!" Ume piped up, pushing Yuudai out of the way "People like animals, right?" she ran off calling back to the others "Just give me a minute!" soon, she returned with a group of cats behind her.

"Cats?" Yuudai said, taken aback "I hate cats...how are cats going to help anyway?" Ume didn't answer and suddenly the cats began dancing and performing tricks, but no one seemed to be paying attention.

"What?!, But people _like_ animals!" Ume said, watching as more and more people passed by them "What are we doing wrong?!"

"Maybe they just don't like cats" Yuudai joked, dodging a strike from Ume "Well, do you have any other bright ideas?"

"I don't hear you coming up with anything else, Mr. Pyro!" Ume yelled "At least my plan didn't involve setting people on fire!"

"Come on, you can't hold that against me!" Yuudai replied "I didn't mean to do that!" while the two fought, Yowa just looked on.

"Don't you have a plan, Yowa-kun?" Tsukiko asked "I don't think those two will stop for a while, why don't you think of something?"

"Well, I do have a plan" Yowa said, putting a hand on his chin, he looked around and examined the restaurant, he noticed that it didn't seem that appealing, he approached the owner "Excuse me, sir."

"What is it, young man?" The owner asked "Do you have a plan?" he nodded towards Ume and Yuudai, who were still arguing "It seems that your friends aren't coming up with anything."

"Well, I was thinking" Yowa said, turning towards the restaurant "This place doesn't look like somewhere people would want to go, no offense."

"...I think I know what you mean" The owner replied, letting out a heavy sigh "I haven't really been giving this place the attention it deserves, what are you saying?, just some simple spring cleaning and people will show up?"

"What!?" Ume and Yuudai shouted in disbelief, overhearing the conversation.

"Just _clean!?_" Yuudai yelled "You mean you didn't think of that before?!"

Tsukiko laughed "Well, if that will help you get more customers, we'll have to help" Ume, Yowa and Yuudai were the first to enter the restaurant and noticed the dusty appearance, and some of the tables seemed to be ready to fall apart.

"Wow, this place..." Yuudai said, looking around "This place...looks crappy" The restaurant owner entered behind them and walked to a supply closet, he opened it and took several boxes of supplies out of it, the three immediately began work, Yowa started by sweeping the floors, Ume took to cleaning up the outside and Yuudai began repairing the tables, soon, the restaurant was in presentable condition.

"Well, I think we've done all we can" Ume said, admiring their work "People should start coming in now."

"Thank you all" The owner spoke "Your reward should be with the council" The team bid the owner farewell and set out, but before the could make it back to the council, they ran into someone, someone Yuudai wished he would not have seen today.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, getting in Yuudai's face "No more putting it off, let's finish our fight here and now!"

"Seeing as how we just finished our mission" Yuudai replied, smirking cockily "I have time to play, I guess" He pushed Naruto back and drew his blades.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered "I'm so gonna pound you!" Before Naruto could draw a weapon, his team appeared behind him.

"Can't you go anywhere without annoying someone?" Sasuke said, letting out an irritated sigh "We don't have time for this, we have to turn in our mission."

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled back "He's the one who started this, and I'm going to finish it!" 

"Ha!, You talk big" Yuudai taunted, he then pointed at Sasuke "I bet I could take you _both!_"

"*Sigh * And here I thought there was only _one_ Naruto in this village" Kakashi sighed, standing next to Tsukiko "What do you think?, Should we stop them?"

"Well, normally I would say we should" Tsukiko replied, watching the three begin to fight "But I think this is something they need to do, especially Naruto and Yuudai."

Naruto and Yuudai clashed blades, sending sparks flying everywhere, they seemed to be evenly matched "You're not that bad, Dead-last" Yuudai pushed Naruto back and hit him in the stomach with the bottom of his tanto, when Naruto fell over in pain, Sasuke rushed in and quickly disarmed Yuudai.

"Let's see how you do without those" He taunted, going hand-to-hand with Yuudai, Sasuke seemed to have the upper hand, but Naruto rushed in and kicked both in the face, sending them flying.

"Stay out of this, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled "He's my opponent!"

Ume watched the battle from the sidelines "I swear, don't they want to do anything other then beat each other over the head?"

"Boys will be boys, I guess" Sakura said "Well, they'll have to get tired eventually" the two then sat down and started conversing, waiting for the battle to end.

Yuudai and Sasuke had gotten back up and punched Naruto, sending him reeling, then they started forming hand seals and inhaled, reacting quickly, Kakashi and Tsukiko grabbed Sasuke and Yuudai "What are you doing?!" Yuudai yelled

"Let's try not to burn down the entire village, okay?" Kakashi said "I think we should end this here, We'll call it a draw."

"What!?, A draw?!" Naruto and Yuudai yelled, astonished at the verdict.

"How can we leave it at that?!" Yuudai asked "A draw is so stupid!"

"Just drop it" Sasuke said "Would it have really mattered who won?, In the end you two would still be idiots" As Sasuke walked away from the group, Yuudai did something that shocked everyone, even Naruto.

"You're kind of a prick, you know that?" He said, Yowa threw his hands over Yuudai's mouth "Yowa!, What are you doing!?"

"You can't say something like that to him!" Yowa whisper-shouted "He'll probably kill you!"

"Haha!, I can't believe you said something like that!" Naruto laughed "Man!, you gotta be a real idiot if you mouth off to Sasuke like that!"

"Is that why you do it so much?" Sakura asked, following after Sasuke, Naruto mumbled something under his breath and followed his teammate.

"Geez...both of those guys are annoying..." Yuudai said, Ume then approached Yuudai and punched him in the back of the head "Owww!, What the hell was that for?!"

"You don't have to be such a jerk to Naruto!" Ume yelled "He's already got enough problems as it is!"

"Hey!, it isn't my fault the guy picks a fight every time he sees me!" Yuudai replied, rubbing his injury "And besides, fighting someone tells you a lot about them."

"What do you mean?" Ume asked "How can beating someone up let you know more about them?"

"Well, it was something my dad told me..." Yuudai remembered "He said 'fighting involves more than the body, if it's done right, a fight involves your soul as well' and when someone puts their soul into a battle, he said that it brings the fighters closer, and that guy always puts all of his soul into a fight."

"His soul?" Ume wondered "So, are you saying that you think you know Naruto because of the fights you get in?" Yuudai put his hands behind his head and walked towards the council.

"I don't know that much about the guy..." He said "But what I do know is that he isn't what people think of him, he isn't some monster to be feared..."

"That was a very grown-up thing for you to say, Yuu-kun" Tsukiko said, following Yuudai "And very surprising, coming from you."

"H-hey!" Yuudai yelled, his face burning up "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Don't be embarrassed, it was a compliment!" Tsukiko laughed "Now come on, we have to turn in this mission" The four then continued down the road, making their way to the council...

THE END

Chapter 4: Finally!, A Real Assignment!

After weeks of running low-level missions, Much to Yuudai's chagrin, Tsukiko decided that they were finally ready for a real mission.

"Finally!" Yuudai cheered "I was getting sick of all those stupid chores we had to do!"

"What's our mission, Sensei?" Yowa asked, Tsukiko held out a folder, which contained details of their assignment.

"As of late, there have been a multitude of disappearances from a nearby village" She explained "They requested that a team be sent to investigate, and the request specifically calls for a Sensor type." 

"A Sensor type?" Yuudai repeated "Do we even have one of them on our team?"

"Of course you do!" Ume replied, puffing out her chest "My clan is known for great sensory ninja!"

"We're grateful for your skills, Ume-chan" Yowa said, after he said that, Ume's chest sank and she let out a nervous laugh.

"W-Well, to be honest, I'm not that good..." Ume admitted "But I can always try, can't I?"

"We won't know until we get there, right?" Yuudai said, walking out of the room "You guys coming or what?" after finishing up with council, the rest of Yuudai's team left the room, where they saw Yuudai frozen in place.

"What's the matter, Yuu-kun?" Tsukiko asked, she followed Yuudai's gaze and saw another team planning for a mission, Tsukiko recognized their Sensei, Kurenai "Team 8?, I'm still having trouble understanding what has you so shaken up."

"Sh-Sh-She's there..." Yuudai stuttered, trying to calm down, but he couldn't, when the other team set out, Yuudai let out a ragged sigh "Damn, what the hell is wrong with me?"

"Are you alright, Yuu-san?" Yowa asked "What's the problem?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ume replied, pinching Yuudai's cheek "His face is all red, don't you know what that means?"

"He's running a fever?" Yowa theorized, pinching Yuudai's other cheek "Whoa!, he's burning up!, we need to get him medicine!"

"No, Yowa, he's not sick" Ume replied, waving her finger "Try again."

"But, if he's not sick, what's the problem?" Yowa asked, feeling Yuudai's forehead "He _is_ burning up, though, shouldn't we get him some help?"

"I'm telling you, he's not sick" Ume said, pulling Yuudai's cheek "Think about it, he reacted that way because of a _girl, _right?"

Yuudai had finally heard enough and threw his hands up, pushing back both Ume and Yowa "I-I'll go scout ahead!"

Tsukiko approached her other students "Sigh...Azumi warned me about this, Ume-chan was right, Yowa-kun, Yuu-kun isn't sick"

"Then, what other explanation is there?" Yowa wondered "He was red, shivering and he was burning up, those are all signs of fever..."

"Yowa...you're too naïve..." Ume said, shaking her head "Yuudai's in love."

"Correct, his sister told me about how he reacts at the sight of Hinata" Tsukiko explained "His tough guy act shatters and the real Yuu-kun shines through."

"Surprising that someone like Yuudai doesn't have the nerve to tell her, though" Ume said "Seeing as he has the nerve to do almost anything."

"Well, he tries not to show it, but Yuu-kun is really shy" Tsukiko said "Sigh, enough of that, we should try and catch up to him, he shouldn't be that far, since he doesn't know where we're going."

*Meanwhile *

Yuudai stopped by a small river and looked at his face reflected in the water "Dammit...why am I still red!?" he cupped some of the water in his hands and splashed it onto his face, hoping that would help "_I thought I would stop acting like that around her...it always happens, ever since that day..._"

Yuudai remembered 5 years ago, the day his father died, he was walking down a road, wanting to clear his mind after the sadness of the day, but as he walked he heard people talking in a nearby restaurant.

"It's a blessing he's gone..." One man said, taking a drink of Sake.

"What are you blabbin' about?" his friend asked "You talking about that guy who died today?, what was his name?"

"Masaru, Masaru Akiyama" The first man said, making Yuudai's blood run cold "That man was nothing but an annoying troublemaker."

"You know it's wrong to bad-mouth the dead" The second man replied "Was the man really that bad?"

"You're damn right he was bad!" The first man yelled, standing up, before he could say anything else, he was hit in the back of the head with something, he turned around saw a little kid holding a stick "What the hell do you want, brat?"

"Shut the hell up about Masaru!" Yuudai yelled, hitting the man across the face with the stick "You don't know the first thing about him!"

The man grabbed Yuudai by the collar and pulled him into the air "Listen kid, and I'll say it nice and slow for you!" he then kneed Yuudai in the ribs "Masaru was nothing but a no-good, trouble-making, punk!" he threw Yuudai to the ground "What would you know anyway?, You're just some brat who knows nothing!"

"I'll know more about Masaru then you every will, bastard!" Yuudai shouted, putting his hand on his chest "I'm his son!"

"Well then..." The man said, bearing down on Yuudai "Isn't that something..." he reared back his fist and tried to punch Yuudai, but before he could, a girl had thrown herself between the two, making the man stop his punch halfway.

"What...are you doing here?" Yuudai asked, recognizing the girl, he had seen her around the village "Hinata...?"

"A-Are you okay?" She asked, turning to Yuudai "You're not hurt, are you?"

"What the hell are you doing, girlie?!" The man yelled, making Hinata shrink back "You stickin' up for this punk?" She didn't answer, and even though she was visibly afraid, she tried to stand her ground "Fine then, I guess I'll have to put you down as well!" he tried to punch again, but his friend held him back.

"You know who that girl is, right?" he said, twisting the man's hand "You know what will happen if you hurt her right?" he then turned to Yuudai and Hinata "Just get out of here, he'll forgive the brat just this once" he dragged his friend out, leaving the two alone.

"_I could've taken that guy..._" Yuudai thought, watching the two leave, he turned back to Hinata "Why...did you step in!?" He didn't mean to yell, but for some reason, he felt angry, before she could reply, he ran out of the building, he ran as fast as he could, he didn't stop until he realized he had run to the training grounds, he stared into the sky and he couldn't hold it back anymore, he fell to his knees and cried, a mix of anger and sadness flooding down his face, he fell forward and started punching the ground, unbeknownst to him, Hinata had followed him to the training field, she wanted to help him, but she stayed where she stood, unsure of how to proceed...

*Back in the present *

Yuudai sat on the bank of the river, still looking into the water, lost in his thoughts "_Damn...why was I so angry at her back then?...no, I think I get it now...but she probably doesn't feel the same_" He picked up a stone and forcefully threw it into the water "_I couldn't tell her anyway_" he let out an irritated sigh and flopped onto his back, he then heard someone approach him, he looked towards the path and saw that it was his team.

"Are you feeling better, Yuu-kun?" Tsukiko asked, in the motherly way she had.

"I guess..." Yuudai asked, slowly standing "Let's get going..."

"You know, Yuudai" Ume said, smiling "You don't have to be embarrassed!"

"Sh-Shut up!" Yuudai yelled, the blush returning to his face " I'm not embarrassed about anything!"

"Sure, sure" Ume replied "Keep up that act as long as you can, Mr. Tough Guy."

"Tch, you know, sometimes you can be as annoying as that Dead-Last" Yuudai said, walking farther down the path.

"Yuu-san, hold on!" Yowa called, making Yuudai turn around "Do you know where to go?"

"...No...I, uh, actually don't..." Yuudai replied, not facing his team.

"I'll lead the way, then" Tsukiko said, walking up to Yuudai "Stick close, alright?"

The three students nodded and set out for their destination, after about an hour, they had arrived and found that the village elder was waiting for them "Are you the Ninjas from the Hidden Leaf?" 

"Yes, we are" Tsukiko answered "I'm Tsukiko, and these three are my students, Yuudai, Yowa and Ume."

"Well, Tsukiko" The elder replied "Thank you for your assistance with this grave matter, as you know, several children and even more adults have been disappearing from the village, we've sent out numerous search parties, but we've had no luck."

"Would you kindly show us where these people were last seen?" Tsukiko asked, the leader nodded and lead the team towards a small park.

"People from the village reported seeing them around this park the day before they vanished" The elder said "Please, bring them back to us if you can."

"Don't worry about it, old man" Yuudai said "We'll bring them back."

"Well, young man" The elder laughed "At least one of us is confident..." he left the team to their investigation, which they promptly began.

"Ume-chan, do you sense anyone nearby?" Tsukiko asked, Ume closed her eyes and focused, taking in the scents around her.

"What is she doing?" Yuudai asked, confused "Is she...sniffing the air?"

"People from Ume's clan have the ability to smell chakra" Yowa explained "According to her, each person's chakra has a unique scent and she can use that scent to lead her to them."

"That's cool" Yuudai said "So, if she smells chakra that she doesn't recognize, she might be able to lead us to the people, or even better..."

"The people that took them" Yowa responded, finishing Yuudai's sentence, he then turned back to Ume "Any like, Ume?"

"Hmm..." Ume thought, using all of her concentration "Over that way!" She pointed south from the park "There's a mass of unknown chakra, that might be the victims."

"Alright, we'll check it out, hopefully we won't meet any resistance" Tsukiko said "And if we do, remember..." 

"Don't sweat it, Sensei" Yuudai replied, his hands on his swords "We'll be fine" The team set off towards where Ume indicated, hoping that they would make it in time...

THE END!

A.N: Will they make it in time?, Who has been taking these people? And Why?


End file.
